Private investigator Brad Nathanson is in hot water with the police and his Facebook friends after he shot a man – who he thought was a thief – and then posted a picture of the man on Facebook.
Nathanson, of Durban, said on Monday that police had instructed him to report to the Hibberdene police station on Tuesday morning. He is expected to be charged with attempted murder.
Police Captain Thulani Zwane said Nathanson’s 9mm pistol had been taken for testing after a 22-year-old man was shot and wounded on the N2 on Saturday.
He said that another man, who had been with the wounded person at the time of the shooting, had run away, and it was not known if he had also been wounded.
According to Nathanson, he had been driving on the N2, near Hibberdene, on his way to visit his brother in Margate when two “suspicious” men carrying several bags and suitcases had crossed the road in front of him.
He said he stopped his car to ask whether the goods they had belonged to them.
When they opened the bags, he saw jewellery, DVD players and cellphones.
Nathanson said one of the men grabbed him from behind as he walked to his car to contact the police, and tried to grab his pistol. He said that in the struggle for the gun, the man was shot in the buttocks.
The second man crossed the highway and escaped.
Nathanson subsequently posted a picture of the wounded man on Facebook.
While many of his Facebook friends applauded his actions, others were angry that he had placed the man’s picture on the site.
Nathanson said he had posted the picture to show that he could have been the victim. “I’ve got muscles, tattoos and a gun, and I was still attacked, so what chance does an average person stand against these thugs?” he asked.
The outrage was increased after he posted a picture on Facebook of a man who had drowned and whose body was lying at the bottom of a pool. He said the dead man’s employer had called him for help on Sunday morning after the police had failed to respond to his calls for more than an hour.
Nathanson said many of his friends were angry and had “defriended” him after the two postings, which had made him reconsider what he was doing.
“Am I sorry I posted the pictures? Yes. Were my intentions foul? No. Was I trying to get a message across to people? Yes,” he said.
Nathanson made headlines last year following his role in tracking down Bella, the daughter of Catherine Krog, who had been kidnapped by her father, Clint Wally. Krog was later killed by Wally, who then turned the gun on himself.
On Monday, Nathanson posted on Facebook that, following the outcry after he had posted the two pictures, he was thinking of stopping the many hours of unpaid work he did to ensure that the streets were safer.
“To those people who ‘defriended’ me because of my pic, I wonder who you are spiting because it’s certainly not me. My page is here for YOU, to keep you informed as to what is going on in our country. I receive no benefit from your subscription to my page. Like it or leave it!”
Describing how he managed to spot thieves or crime in progress, Nathanson said: “I feel like a vampire slayer. Only vampire slayers can spot a vampire walking among people.” - The Mercury